Means for and method of sewing button loops on garments



June 4, 1963 D, M. SHULAR 3,091,774

MEANS F' OR AND METHOD OF' SEWING BUTTON LOOPS ON GARMENTS Filed July 28. 1959 INVENTOR ffy, QM 7m. BY g 52 di F?. 7 W Agg-RN S ilnited tat-...es

3,091,774 MEANS FOR AND METHD F SEWING BUTTON LOPS 0N GARMENTS David M. Shular, 3 West Ave., South Norwalk, Conn. Filed July 28, 1959, Ser. No. 830,125 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-256) This invention relates generally to fasteners for garments and the like, and particularly to improved button loop constructions and methods of forming button loops on garments, such as bridal gowns, blouses, sweaters, pajamas and the like.

In many garments, such as those enumerated in the preceding paragraph, it is necessary to provide fastening means in the `form of a plurality of spaced button loops that are disposed along an edge of one garment portion which cooperate with a plurality of fasteners, usually small buttons, that are disposed along an edge of another garment portion, to close the garment. The principal prior art button loop construction results from the principal prior art method of forming a plurality of button loops along an edge of one garment portion by disposing a separate loop strip, that is, a length of wavy narrow material, and a separate finishing strip adjacent to the raw edge of a garment portion, and while holding all three elements in proper relative position, to sew a line of stitching longitudinally through the garment portion, the finishing strip and the loop strip. This method is deficient in that it requires the operator to hold three separate elements in proper position during stitching, and this is dicult and time-consuming. Furthermore, in performing this sewing operation, the loops of the loop strip are prone to get twisted and tangled, and the operator must spend a considerable amount of time untangling and untwisting the loop strip to maintain the loops in proper relationship to the garment portion and the finishing strip. The finished button loop construction is also decient in that all of the separate elements are held by the same line of stitching, and therefore, if the stitching, and therefore, if the stitching breaks, the loops become loose, separate from the garment portion and become ineffective until they are re-stitched.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved button loop constructions for garments and the like, and improved methods of making such constructions, which eliminate the deficiencies of the prior art constructions and methods.

It is another object of the invention to provide economical button loop constructions and economical methods of making them.

The objects of the invention are achieved in form by providing `a button loop construction and a method of making the same, wherein a button loop strip is independently secured, as by sewing, to :a finished fabric strip to form a unitary button loop-finishing strip subassembly, and then this subassembly is stitched to a garment portion. In performing the assembling operations with the improved constructions and methods, it is necessary to position yonly two separate elements, namely the 'garment portion and the unitary button loop-finishing strip subassembly, `during stitching of these elements, compared with the necessity of positioning three elements in the prior art constructions and methods, as set forth above. After the improved button loop construction is completed, the breaking of 'so-me of the stitching does not result in a button loop becoming loose and ineffective, as is the case in the prior art constructions.

The above and other objects and further details of that which I believe to be novel and my invention will be clear from the following description kand claims taken with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

gijfi Patented June 4, 1953 FIG. l is a fragmentary plan view of a unitary button loop-finishing strip subassembly which incorporates the instant invention;

BIG. 2 is a vsectional View taken substantially on line 2--2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a sectional View showing the FIGS. 1 and 2 subassembly stitched tot a garment portion at one stage of attaching it thereto;

FIG. 4 Vis a view similar to rF-IG. 3, but showing the elements after the subassembly has been folded under the garment portion into its final position relative to the garment portion;

FIG. Sis a view similar to FIG. l but showing a modification of the subassembly;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on l-ine 6--6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a section-al view showing the FIGS. 5 and 6 subassembly stitched to a garment portion at one stage of attaching it thereto;

FIG. 8 is a View similar to FIG. 7 but showing the elements after the fabnic finishing strip has been folded under the garment portion into its final position relative to the garment portion;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. l but showing another modification of the subassembly;

FIG. l() is a sectional View taken substantially on line 10-:10 of iFiG. 9;

FIG. 1l is a View similar to FIG. l0 but showing the button loop-finishing strip subassembly stitched to a garment portion in its final position relative thereto;

FIG. l2 is a fragmentary plan view of two fastening pontions of a garment, one of which includes a button loop construction contemplated by the instant invention, and the other of which -includes a plurality of fasteners which cooperate therewith to fasten the two garment portions, and

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 1S-13 of IFIG. l2.

In FIGS. 1-4 there is illustrated one modification of the invention and the method of making it. This modification is made in two principal steps: (l) the preliminary step of forming a button loop finishing strip subassembly, and (2) the step of attaching this subassembly to the garment.

1) 'Ihe button loop-nishing strip subassembly 8 is formed by securing, as by sewing, a button loop strip 10 to a fabric finishing strip 12; The button loop strip 10 comprises a woven, knitted or braided, straight strip 14 having a wavy, button loop forming, braided cord 16 secured thereto as by being interwoven, knitted or interbraided therewith to form a unitary button loop strip 10. The button loop strip 10, therefore, comprises an elongated straight portion formedl by strip 14, which is adapted to be secured, as by being sewn, to the finishing strip 12, and a button loop portion formed by the cord 16, which forms a plurality of spaced button loops 18 that extend laterally from the straight strip 14 away therefrom. The subassembly Sis complete when the button loop strip 10 is secured to the fabric finishing strip 12, which may be made of nylon net or other suitable binding material. The secnrement is preferably made by sewing a straight line of stitching 20 through the straight strip 14 and the finishing strip 12. When fully completed, the button loop-finishing strip 8 exists as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

(2) The subassembly 8 is attached to a garment by being disposed adjacent to the raw edge 22 of a portion 24 thereof in the manner illustrated in FIG. 3, and by having a straight line of stitching 26 sewn through the subassembly, that is, the finishing strip 12 and straight strip 14, and the garment portion 24. After being attached to the garment portion 24, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the subassembly 8 is folded under the garment portion 24 to its FIG. 4

l"tee position, wherein it may be permanently secured, as by having the edge 30 of the nishing strip 12 sewn to the garment portion. It will be observed in FIG. 4 that the button loops 18 project beyond the smooth, folded over edge 28 of the garment portion 24 into free positions wherein they may function in the conventional manner as fastening button loops which cooperate with associated fastening means, such as small buttons, on another garment portion.

It should be observed that the completed FIGS. 1-4 button loop-garment construction possesses the advantage over prior art constructions, that in the event that either the stitching 20 or 26 breaks, the button loops 18 will not become loose, separated from the garment and rendered ineffective. It should also be noted that in attaching the subassembly 8 to the garment portion 24, it is necessary for the operator to maintain only two separate elements in position, rather than Ithree separate elements as in the prior'art methods. This also results in a second stitching of the loops to the garment, thus giving an additional strengthening effect. These advantages constitute distinct improvements over the prior art construction and method.

In FIGS. -8, there is illustrated another modification of the invention and the method of making it. This modification is also made in two principal steps: (l) the preliminary step of forming a button loop-finishing strip subassembly, and (2) the step of attaching this subassembly to the garment. In the FIGS. 5-8 modification, subassembly 32 is made by securing, as by sewing, a button loop strip 34 to a fabric finishing strip 36. The button loop strip 34 is generally similar to the button loop strip 10 ofv the FIGS. 1-4 modification, and includes a woven, knitted or braided straight strip 38 having a wavy, button loop forming, braidedcord 40 secured thereto, as by being interwoven, knitted or interbraided therewith to form a unitary button loop strip 34. The button loop strip 34, therefore, comprises an elongated straight portion formed by strip 38, which is adapted to be secured, as by being sewn, to the finishing strip '36, and a button loop portion formed by cord 40, which forms a plurality of spaced butrton loops 42 that extend laterally inwardly of the straight strip 38.

The subassembly 32 is completed by securing, as by sewing, the button loop strip 34 to the fabric finishing strip 36, which is generally similar to the fabric finishing strip 12 of the FIGS. 1- 4 modiiication, and which may be made of nylon net or other suitable binding material. Preferably, a straight line of stitching 44 is sewn through the straight strip 38 and the finishing strip 36.

The FIGS. 5-8 subassembly 32 differs principally from the FIGS. 1-4 subassembly 8 in the manner in which the button loop strip 34 is disposed relative to the finishing strip 36. This difference can clearly be seen by compar-V ing FIG. 1 and FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, it will be observed that the button loops 42 extend inwardly of an edge of the finishing strip, rather than outwardly away from an edge thereof as in the case of FIGS.14 modification. This different structural arrangement permits a slightly d jferent method of attaching the subassembly 32 to a garment from the one used to attach the FIGS. 1 4 subassemblyV 8 to its associated garment.

I'he subassembly 32 is attached to a portion 46 of a garment, as can best `be seen in FIG. 7, by being juxtaposed to the raw edge 48 thereof so as to have the button loops 42 and finishing strip 36 extend away therefrom, and by having the straight line of stitching 50 sewn through the straight strip 38, the nishing strip 36 and the garment portion 46 near its raw edge 48. The condition of the elements at this stage of assembly is illustrated in FIG. 7. The attachment of the subasser'nbly 32 to the garment portion 46 is completed by folding the finishing strip 36 around the raw edge 48 under the garment portion 46 to the position illustrated in FIG. 8. When in the lFIG. 8 condition, the nishing strip 36 may be permanently secured to the garment portion 36, by having its edge 52 sewn thereto. It should be apparent from the foregoing that the FIGS. 5-8 modification possesses substantially all of the same advantages as the FIGS. 1-4 modification, but that the completed button loop-garment construction is slightly different, as a comparison of FIGS. 4 and 8 will establish.

In FIGS. 9-11 there is illustrated Vanother modification of the invention which is the preferred form thereof. In this modification, the button loop-finishing strip subassembly 54 comprises a unitary element. This -is to be clearly distinguished from subassemblies 8 and 32 of the first two modifications which are .made of a separate button loop strip anda separate fabric finishing strip. Contrasted with those constructions, the subassembly 54 is unitary and comprises an elongated, woven, knitted or braided, wide, straight stn'p portion 56 and a wavy, button loop forming, cord por-tion 58, which are interwoven, interbraided or knitted to each other. In effect, the subassembly 54 constitutes Aa button loop strip that is generally similar to the button loop strips 10 and 34 of the first two modifications, except that it has a substantially wider straight strip portion. Because the straight strip portion 56 is attractive, it may function as a finishing strip, and therefore, the subassembly 54 eliminates the separate finishing strip of the first two modications and the necessity of forming a subassembly of tWo elements, namely a button loop lstrip and a fabric finishing strip, as in the first two modifications. Subassembly S4 permits the formation of a plurality of spaced button loops 60 on a garment by the single step of attaching the strip 54 to a portion thereof. Subassembly 54 may be attached to -a portion 62 of a garment by folding under the raw edge 64 of the garment portion to form a smooth folded edge 66, disposing the subassembly 54 under the smooth folded edge 66 and securing the subassembly 54 to the garment portion 64, as by sevn'ng the line of stitching 68 through the subassem'- bly and the garment portion. It desired, the subassembly 54 may be additionally secured to the Vgarment portion 62, as by having another straight 4line of stitching pass through the edge 70 thereof `and the garment portion.

' In view of the foregoing, it will be apparent that the FIGS. 9-11 modification possesses substantially all the advantages of the first two modifications and the additional advantages of simplifying the method of Iassembly by: (l) eliminating the two-element, button loop-finishing strip subassembly of the first two modifications and replacing it with a single element, and (2) by simplifying the attachment of this single element to a garment by permitting such attachment to be effected principally by sewing a single straight line of stitching.

In FIGS. l2 and 13, there is illustrated the manner in which representative, cooperative fastening portions of a garment appear in a completed garment. In these FIG- URES, two fastening portions of a completed garment, such as a bridal gown, are shown; one portion 72 includes fastening means in the form of a plurality of equally spaced, small buttons 74, and the other portion 76 includes cooperating fastening means in the form of a plurality of spaced button loops 78. The cooperative relationship of the buttons 74 and the button loops 78 to eiect fastening of the garment lportions is Well known in the art. An inspection of FIGS. 12 and 13 Awill indicate that the button loops 78 have been provided on the garment portion 76 in the manner of the FIGS. 9-11 modification of the invention, in that the button loops form an integral part of the unitary, button loop finishing strip 80 subassembly which is secured to the garment portion 76 by a line of stitching 82. Although FIGS. l2 and 13 illustrate the preferred form of button loop construction and method of effecting the same, it should be clearly understood that either of the first two modifications can be utilized in the FIGS. l2 and 13 environment in place of the illustrated FIGS. 9-11 modification, and that after final assembly, their button loops are capable of functiow ing in the same general manner as the button loops 78 illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13 to cooperate with the buttons 74 to detachably fasten the garment portions 72 and 76 together. It should also be clearly understood that although the FIGS. 9-11 modification is the preferred form of the invention, the other two modications possess distinct advantages over the prior art.

As will be evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of my invention are not limited to the particular details of construction of the examples illustrated, and I contemplate that Various other modifications and applications will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, my intention that the appended claims shall cover such modifications and applications as do not depart from the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A button loop fastening and edge linishing device comprising: yan elongated strip of fabric tinishing material; and a unitary button Iloop tape in the form of a narrow elongated strip having a series of spaced button loops projecting from one edge of said narrow strip; said button loop tape being secured to said strip of :fabric nishing material adjacent a longitudinal edge of said strip and disposed relative thereto so that said button loops extend inwardly of said longitudinal edge and in complete overlying contact with said strip of fabric finishing material.

one side thereof near said raw free edge with said button,

loops extending outwardly of said raw free edge and said strip extending around said raw free edge land having a substantial portion thereof disposed on the other side of said garment, whereby said button loops project outwardly from and said strip covers said raw free edge.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 28,244 Arnold May 8, 1860 1,108,262 Smith Aug. 25, 1914 1,396,799 Wiherley NOV. l5, 1921 1,471,604 Heller Oct. 23, 1923 2,114,271 vSweeney Apr. 12, 1938 2,334,685 Almond et al Nov. 16, 1943 2,341,184 McCann Feb. 8, 1944 

1. A BUTTON LOOP FASTENING AND EDGE FINISHING DEVICE COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED STRIP OF FABRIC FINISHING MATERIAL; AND A UNITARY BUTTON LOOP TAPE IN THE FORM OF A NARROW ELONGATED STRIP HAVING A SERIES OF SPACED BUTTON LOOPS PROJECTING FROM ONE EDGE OF SAID NARROW STRIP; SAID BUTTON LOOP TAPE BEING SECURED TO SAID STRIP OF FABRIC FINISHING MATERIAL ADJACENT A LONGITUDINAL EDGE OF SAID STRIP AND DISPOSED RELATIVE THERETO SO THAT SAID BUTTON LOOPS EXTEND INWARDLY OF SAID LONGITUDINAL EDGE AND IN COMPLETE OVERLYING CONTACT WITH SAID STRIP OF FABRIC FINISHING MATERIAL. 